Honda Congratulates Million-Mile Joe Cicero

Here’s proof of what a reliable car and proper maintenance can lead to: Joe LoCicero achieved 1 million miles on his 1990 Honda Accord.

To congratulate Joe for his achievement, Honda awarded him a brand new 2012 Accord sedan. Ms. Maine presented the keys to him during a surprise parade in honor of Joe. The parade, held October 23, included an odometer float, local high school marching bands and theatre stilt walkers. A plane even flew overhead, trailing the message, “Way to go, Joe!” with the Honda logo on each end.

Joe gained public attention back in June, when he notified Honda that he had reached 900,000 and was going for 1,000,000. To keep track of his journey, Joe started the website millionmilejoe.com, which takes visitors to a Facebook page. Over the past few months, many fans have left supportive comments to cheer Joe on, and later congratulate him once he reached his goal.

Joe bought the 1990 Accord in 1996. It had 74,000 miles on it at the time. Since then, he’s averaged about 62,500 miles per year. Compare that to the typical driver, who drives about 14,000 miles per year, and you can truly appreciate how action the Accord got.

How did he hit 1 million miles?

Joe was able to achieve such a commendable mileage mainly by following his owner’s manual and maintenance schedule perfectly. Here’s a summary of what he did to keep his 21-year-old Accord running:

Checked fluids weekly

Switched fluids seasonally

Changed fluids every 5,000 miles

Never let the oil level go below a quart

Never let the fuel tank reach empty

Over the years, he also had to replace the fuel pump, cooling fans and radiator twice, but interestingly, he has only received one speeding ticket during the million-mile journey.

Honda deserves credit for Joe’s achievement, too, and was thrilled to hear that Joe had made his car last that long. Honda has a reputation for building reliable cars, and the story only furthers that image. Honda has said of Joe’s achievement that it is “a testament to Honda’s reliability and reinforces Honda’s reputation for building rock-solid, dependable cars.”

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